शुक्रवार, 21 नवंबर 2008

What is Social Audit?

India is a democracy. People are masters. Government exists to serve the people. It is the primary duty of any master to take a look at the accounts of the servant at regular intervals and hold the servant accountable. Social audit or public audit is a step in that direction. People use right to information to obtain details of the works carried out by a Government Department or the manner in which the money was spent by that Department. This information contained in records is compared with field reality. This is public audit or social audit and is a very important tool in the hands of the people to hold the Government accountable.Public audits do not have any legal sanction. The findings of a public audit are not acceptable as evidence under any law. However, a public audit creates a lot of public pressure on the political establishment to take corrective steps.